Reflecting on the success of a Peer Mentorship Programme – A scholarly personal narrative

摘要

Peer mentorship programmes exist where senior students offer support to first year students to help them transition from high school into a university environment. The implementation of such programmes requires extensive resources and a proper management structure. In general, both the mentor and mentee benefits, as the mentee is helped to settle into the university while the mentor develops important social skills. However, different authors have different perspectives on measuring the success of such programmes. Some measure the success based on the academic performance, decrease in dropout rates and better social integration of the mentees. What may be considered as a successful programme at one university may not be considered so at another university. Furthermore, what tangible benefits accrue to the mentors? The purpose of this paper is to present a scholarly personal perspective of the benefits and challenges of a peer mentorship programme that was introduced at a university of technology in South Africa in 2014. The author was employed as a teaching and learning assistance in the faculty of engineering and information technology for a period of one year, thereby validating her perspectives based on personal involvement with the mentors. A scholarly personal perspective is used that may be linked to a constructivist research methodology that recognizes the validity and usefulness of a researcher’s personal experiences in a specific discipline. Critical subsections on the success of this programme relates to the selection criteria for mentors, the structure and management of weekly sessions between mentors and mentees and developmental sessions for the mentors. It is recommended that universities should continue offering support to first year student through peer mentorship programmes, as it assists mentees to settle into university life, while allowing further personal development.